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Pienza

Pienza is located in the heart of the Val d’Orcia, and it is considered the embodiment of the Renaissance utopia of the ideal city. In 1996 it was recognized a Unesco site, and even today it is still able to convey the urban canons of the Renaissance for the rational organization of spaces and perspectives of sixteenth-century squares and palaces.

Discover

Pienza is a charming little village that is definitely worth a visit. It is located 20 km from Chianciano Terme and, thanks to its strategic location, overlooks the entire Val d’Orcia.
The Historic Center of Pienza has been included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. The village is known as the “ideal” city of the Renaissance, and much is owed to humanist Aeneas Silvio Piccolomini, later to become Pope Pius II, who wanted to build the village following the principles of the classical and Renaissance ages. The construction of much of the village is due, to the architect Bernardo known as Rossellino and the great humanist Leon Battista Alberti. Within a few years the Cathedral was built the papal residence or Palazzo Piccolomini, the City Hall, and the famous central square. Important paintings by renowned artists of the time can be found inside the Cathedral or Cathedral of the Assumption. To the right of the cathedral you can admire Palazzo Piccolomini whose main feature is the loggia with a wonderful hanging garden from which you can be overwhelmed by the colors and landscapes of the Val d’Orcia. Also known is the Pieve di Corsignano, a Romanesque church with three naves, each of which has an altar, and best known both because it is still possible to see at the entrance the original baptismal font in which both Pope Pius II and his nephew Pope Pius III were baptized and because it is possible to see inside one of the few representations of the serpent regulus, a Roman deity, which has survived in its original form to the present day. Strolling through the village it is possible to discover nooks and crannies and buildings of various kinds such as the Case Nuove di Pio II, a neighborhood built to provide housing for those who had moved to Pienza for the construction of the papal palaces, or such as the Conservatorio San Carlo, an ancient fortress that now houses the library and a convention center, and finally the Gozzante neighborhood, characterized by the construction of small houses on the cliff overlooking the wonderful views of the Val d’Orcia.

Typicality & Historical events

Typicality

Impossible to forget that Pienza is also the city of cacio: the famous Pecorino di Pienza that can be purchased in many of the stores in the streets of the village. Cacio and its production are part of the history of the place. Cheese has been in history first a food of the ancient nomadic peoples as it provided a high caloric intake essential for making the long journeys needed to graze livestock then a food for all, with increasingly sought-after and unique flavors. And it is in the cacio di Pienza that we find the uniqueness of a product with such ancient and never lost traditions.

Historical events

  • Cheese Fair (August/September)
  • Panforte Tournament (December)
  • Pienza and the flowers (May)
  • Chamber Music Festival (July)

How to get to Pienza

Pienza is 21 km from Chianciano Terme and can be reached either by car, with suburban bus connections available on weekdays, and it is finally also possible to get there with the service offered by the Valdichiana Gran Tour active, however, only in the summer months